I'm not a power Twitter user--probably mostly because I don't have a smartphone (and don't want one, yet)--but check in at least once a day. Often a topic for themed one-liners trends on Twitter, with users contributing their own and adding a common hashtag so those interested in following the thread can search on the tag and view all contributions. It's like The Washington Post's Style Invitational in real time.
"Unseen prequels" was trending last night (users tagging their contributions #unseenprequels). Here are some I enjoyed (contributors' Twitter handles provide the attributions):
@yousuckyabum Debbie Does Fort Worth
@yousuckyabum Boyz in Da Womb
@stevemarvell Picking Up Miss Daisy
@matt_cochr Two Dalmatians
@bcballard Strangers on a Platform
@turhansbeycmpny The Fairly Impressive Six
@turhansbeycmpny Apocalypse...Wait For It...
@RickWolff Overly Rich Dinner on Elm Street
@TheDCFanProject Never Been Hugged
[original contributor unknown]: Reservoir Puppies
[original contributor unknown]: Snakes Going Through Airport Security
@CheekyWench Mosey, Lola, Mosey
I was in weak form and could only come up with Mr. Smith Goes to the Vienna Metro Station.
Four minutes spent listening to just about any 86-yr-old speak on what s/he's seen is worth my time. Via BoingBoing, the April 09 testimony of an 86-yr-old WWII vet and lifelong Republican at a hearing on gay marriage in Maine:
MacArthur poets | 2 comments»
After learning yesterday that Heather McHugh is one of the 2009 recipients of a MacArthur Fellowship (better known as MacArthur Genius Award/Grant), I got curious as to how many poets (and which poets) had previously been named fellows.
The answers?
40 poets, including McHugh, have received MacArthur Fellowships since the MacArthur Foundation began offering them in 1981.
Here they are, from least recent to most recent recipient:
A.R. Ammons
Joseph Brodsky
Derek Walcott
Robert Penn Warren
Brad Leithauser
A.K. Ramanujan
Robert Hass
Charles Simic
Galway Kinnell
John Ashbery
Daryl Hine
Jay Wright
Douglas Crase
Richard Kenney
Mark Strand
May Swenson
Allen Grossman
Jorie Graham
John Hollander
Alice Fulton
Eleanor Wilner
Amy Clampitt
Irving Feldman
Thom Gunn
Ann Lauterbach
Jim Powell
Adrienne Rich
Sandra Cisneros
Richard Howard
Thylias Moss
Susan Stewart
Linda Bierds
Edward Hirsch
Ishmael Reed
Campbell McGrath
Anne Carson
Lucia Perillo
C.D. Wright
Peter Cole
Heather McHugh
I haven't quit blogging...I've just been blogging on the inside. | 0 comments»
A few things I've been meaning to post:
*Prolific author Terry Pratchett, diagnosed two years ago with early-onset Alzheimer's, has spoken in favor of the right to die (which I heartily support): "I believe that if the burden gets too great, those who wish should be allowed to be shown the door. In my case, in the fullness of time, I hope it will be in the garden under an English sky. Or, if wet, the library."
*After finishing Dave Eggers's Zeitoun (good), I found myself revisiting images of the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. weBranding's Project Katrina photo set is very strong.
*I enjoyed this short interview with George Takei, best known for his role as Sulu on Star Trek, but more recently known as a gay activist who married his partner of 22 years in San Francisco. Takei mentions asking Gene Roddenberry in the 80s why there weren't any queer crew members on the Enterprise: "“He gave me the stock answer that [being gay] doesn’t matter [in the 24th century],” Takei says. “I said, ‘Well, if it doesn’t matter, why don’t we see them?”" (Roddenberry did, Takei credits, tackle other political issues of the time on the show--TV's first interracial kiss was between Capt. Kirk and Uhura). Takei also speaks of having been imprisoned, as a very young boy, in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
*If, like me, your mind seems to gawp helplessly when trying to imagine where we'll be in twenty--or even ten--years, you might appreciate the What's Next? Top Trends blog's posts on "The Future of Libraries" (scenario one, scenario two, scenario three, scenario four). They're well-written, thoughtful, and not at all just about libraries. An excellent read.
*Rachel Dacus has compiled a list of "Quick Turnaround Journals"--print and online journals that respond quickly to poetry submissions.
*"In the future, a famous person will die every fifteen minutes." -- Joanne McNeil (from article here)
*Hubby Hubby
The Flag of Equal Marriage | 2 comments»
This would've been just in time for the 4th of July if I'd read my feeds this weekend. The flag of equal marriage is "an evolving protest flag for equal marriage rights in the United States." Stars on the US flag were added in the order of each state's admission to the union; those stars that stand for states that actively perform same-sex marriages will be added as more states decide in favor of equality for GLBTQ couples. Above, the January 2010 flag, with stars for Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
